Safeguard
by LostSparrow
Summary: Creedy has always been protective. He's been protective over his sister, Quinn, their people in the castle and the children who look to him for comfort, and he's especially protective over a girl who is scared of the world outside that's been consumed by fire and has wide doe eyes. After a hard day, he goes to find her.
1. Chapter 1

Creedy is a protective person, and he always has been. He had a little sister who was deaf, but Creedy adored her. He remembered the little six year old running around after him, trying to play hide and seek. Sometimes he would hide from her, but she would get scared when she couldn't see him. Her wild, brown eyes would begin to dart around and she would spin around, looking desperately for her brother. He wouldn't make her wait long and he would jump out from his hiding spot, grinning. She always smiled and giggled when he did that.

She didn't live to see thirteen. She died in one of the first attacks, when she was playing outside. She didn't hear the alarms. There was no body left after the dragon sent fire down on her.

After that, Creedy felt like he failed and he must never fail again. He met Quinn, they built their fortress and protected their people as best they could. However, every time they lost one of them, it brought back the pain in his chest. He hated burying their dead on the road.

And today, he had to bury another one. The girls name was Elsie, and she was seventeen. The most painful part was that she had killed herself. It was Quinn's sister, Imogen, who had found her. The blonde girl was lying on the floor of the female bathroom with blood seeping out of her wrists and the life gone from her vacant green eyes. Creedy had heard Imogen scream, just as he got out of the shower in the opposite room. He had only pulled on his pants when the ear splitting scream rippled through the stone walls. He tore out of the bathroom and raced into the next one, almost crashing into Imogen as he did so. Quinn's little sister was kneeled on the floor, holding her friends blood soaked wrists.

"Creedy, help her!" the girl cries, looking up at him with wide brown eyes and tears running down her face. He feels helpless because he can see that Elsie has been dead for several hours. Creedy stands there with his mouth open, gaping at her. He only shakes his head.

Quinn came running in a second later. He observes the site, walks forward and unravels his sister from the corpse. She's stopped crying and is biting her lip to keep quiet so she doesn't cause the other children to come running. Creedy covered Elsie with a blanket and carried the body out of the bathroom before the children saw it. He buried her half an hour later, then tried his best to scrub the blood from the stone. By that time it was already 2am.

That's where he's coming from, and now he's looking for her. Imogen is Quinn's half-sister, who was born in 1999. She's 20 now and she has only really known a life of fire and dragons and running. Creedy and Quinn kept her alive, but it was impossible to shield her from the pain that the fire brought, which was dead friends, flying monsters and starving children. She survives with the rest of them, but it takes a toll on her.

Creedy walks through the stony hallways, looking for Quinn's sister. He has checked most of her usual hiding places, but has had no luck. There's still one spot he hasn't checked, in the east wing of the castle. It's a small little alcove, hidden away from prying eyes with a window that she's kicked open. He walks up the steps and peeks in and finds the girl he was looking for. She sits with her legs dangling outside the window and her back pressed against the stone. She's changed out of the blood soaked tank top and jeans she wore earlier, instead opting for black cloth pants and a grey sweatshirt. She's not facing him, she's staring at the moon.

"How you doing, girl?" he asks her quietly.

He can see her body quivering and he squeezes into the alcove, sitting closely behind the 20 year old. Soon she's crying. He wraps an arm around her and pulls her backwards, until she's cradled against her chest. Her long chestnut hair is draped over his chest, and she's holding on to his arm so tightly that he doubts the blood is circulating properly.

"Can I go with you tonight…" she whispers.

Creedy chews his lip before lowering his lips and pressing them into the top of her head. "You know we shouldn't. It was different when you were younger." He answers. He's referring to when Imogen was a child and would go running into his room when she was scared and hide in his bed. She would usually go to Quinn, but sometimes he would be on watch. It became more of a habit for the young child to find comfort in her favorite mentor. But, as she grew older, Creedy knew it wasn't as appropriate for her to sneak into his bed anymore.

But as she look up at him with her wide, doe eyes and her heartbroken expression and Creedy loses all his excuses and simply nods. He can't say no to her. She stands up and walks out first, waiting at the bottom of the steps for him to join her. He takes one last look at the moon illuminating the tress and rocks that rest outside the castle before walking out. He stops in front of her and crouches down. She puts her hands on his shoulders before jumping on his back. He stands up, tightening his grip on the young woman. She nestles her face into the crook of his neck and holds him like a lifeline.

"Will we be okay?" she whispers.

"Yes. We will." He replies swiftly as he carries her to his room. It doesn't take him long to get there, and Imogen is almost asleep when he reaches the door. He opens it and walks over to his bed, carefully leaning down and letting the girl slide off his back. He pushes her over and climbs in beside her. She turns over and drapes her arm across her chest and hooks one leg over his too. He catches his breath.

"Imogen… we shouldn't," he begins to say but she shakes her head.

"Shh. I'm sleeping. Just close your eyes," she breathes. Her right hand comes up to his face, and she runs her fingers over his lips; silencing him. Her fingers are clad with several silver rings, which he's collected for her over the years. They were his gifts to her, usually for her birthday as he hoped to supply her with some sort of normality in their hectic life. They've become her treasures, even the ones that have long since tarnished or lost the cheap rhinestones they once held.

Creedy debates going and sleeping on the floor, just in case anyone were to walk in. Yes, that's a good idea. He slowly goes to sit up, but her grip suddenly tightens and her eyes fly open and she throws her body on his chest. "Don't leave me." She chokes out and raises her head, staring at him once again with those big doe eyes. Once again, he can't argue. He reaches up and caresses the side of her face, smiling ever so slightly.

He takes a deep breath in and clutches her hand tightly. "Never will. I'll always be here."

She smiles as another tear slides down her cheek. She lays her head down on his chest and sighs. In a few moments she's asleep. He'll wake her up in a few hours and make sure she's in her own bed before Quinn wakes up so he'll never know about them. Creedy runs his fingers through her long tresses and decides, until that time, he'll hold the girl close and try to protect her from the outside world that scares her so much.


	2. Chapter 2

She paces nervously on the castle wall, her eyes peeled on the road. Creedy, Quinn and Jared went out to find Eddie, his son Devon, Rachel, Matt and Michael. Eddie somehow convinced them to sneak into the field, which is their primary food supply. Her blood boils when she thinks of it. She know that this season, especially the winter, was the most difficult they had. They had barely enough food for the children, let alone the adults. Most of them would just shake their head and say they weren't hungry until all the kids ate. Usually it came down to the adults having a small bowl of porridge or a mouldy tomato every one or two days. It was awful, and many of them were plagued with hunger pains, headaches, fainting, and even scurvy because of lack of Vitamin C.

Most of them managed to survive.

But Eddie had lost his mind and clearly thought, stupidly, that he knew best. And now he's jeopardized their food supply because of his greed. She hears a noise and eagerly kneels on the top of the castle wall, seeing the scorched water engines slowly rolling back into the fortress. Both are still working, and she's praying everyone has survived. She runs down the wall and the stairs, her wild hair flying every which way as she does so. She skids to a stop beside the burned engine just as a sobbing Rachel comes tumbling out of the passenger side. Imogen gasps and holds out her arms as the hysterical redhead throws herself on the girl. Beside her is Michael, who looks absolutely in shock. Then, Creedy jumps out of the driver's side, slamming the door hard. His tired, rugged face looks angry as he walks over, shoving past Michael as he does so.

"Hope it was fuckin' wort' it, ya fuckin' dobber." He snaps and walks away. Imogen looks at the other engine and to her relief, sees Quinn. He looks just as angry. Beside him is Eddie, who's screaming and crying about Devon.

"We have to go back!" he roars and throws his arms on Quinn, who quickly grabs him by the wrists and pins them to his side. Jared climbs down, and shakes his head. She doesn't see Devon or Matt… the worst must have happened.

Imogen lets Rachel go and quickly runs after the angry Scotsman. "Creedy, wait!" she begs. He stops, but doesn't turn around. She comes up behind him and puts her hand on his silver clad forearm. "What happened?" she asks. He just shakes his head. His brown, wet curls are stuck to his neck.

"S'all gone, Imogen. Devon, Matt, the field… A'thing's burned. We could nae stop it." He finally chokes out. She can hear his voice crack. She quickly wraps her arms around his waist and buries her face in his back. He reeks of smoke.

"You did all you could have done." She tells him softly. His hand comes up and he grips hers for a quick moment before shaking her off and going back to the castle to get changed out of this damn charred suit.

* * *

That night, she sits in the common room with little Katie in front of her. She is brushing through Katie's long blond hair. Katie is always a positive child to be around, and she makes everyone smile. But tonight, even she isn't smiling. Everyone was somber. The children were sad because one of their favorite jokesters, Matt, was gone. As for the adults, they're still trying to think of how to make up the food supply.

Imogen finishes with Katie's hair, and the little girl stands up and kisses Imogen quickly on the cheek before walking off to find her brother, Liam.

The young woman stands up and walks to the kitchen, which is just off the common room. She's wearing flowered pyjama pants and her baggy grey sweatshirt, and the comfortable clothes make her feel a little better, if even just physically. She goes to the coffee pot and finds just enough left to pour a quarter cup. It's enough, it'll warm her up if nothing else.

She pulls herself on the counter and crosses her legs, blowing the steam out of the small cup so it swirls around her nose. The bitter smell fills her nose, and with the soft yellow light of the candles illuminating the walls, the castle almost feels like a safe spot to be. A moment later, her favorite Scotsman comes rolling around the corner, two empty glasses in his hands. He looks up and offers her a weak smile.

"Feeling any better?" she asks him quietly. He comes over to the counter and leans against it, closing his green eyes and breathing deeply.

"Ay, a wee bit." He responds and leans his head on her shoulder, her eyes still shut. She places the cup on the counter and reaches over to take a hold of his hand once again. She turns her face so her lips are softly pressed on his forehead. His breath catches and he leans up, just slightly so her lips are now hovering lower. He can feel her breath tickling his face. He feels her breath move lower, and now it's just grazing over his upper lip. How easy would it be to just lean forward, it would only take a movement of his chin. Her lips are so close to his.

But he knows better.

He pushes himself off the counter and almost falls down in the process, and Imogen nearly jumps out of her skin from fright.

"No…" he says softly and rubs his hand through his hair.

"I wasn't going to-"

"Don't lie to me, Imogen. I know you too well for that." He interrupts her. The brunette girl looks embarrassed and quickly grabs her coffee cup and jumps off the counter. He knows she is angry.

"I didn't think you were that blatantly opposed to the idea but I guess you are," she says bitterly and begins to leave but he grabs her arm and swings her back around. The hot liquid sloshes out of the mug and lands on his skin.

"It's not that. Nothing can happen between us. You know that." He snaps. She looks at him defiantly.

"Why not?" she says angrily in response. He sighs and looks down, not offering a response. She walks out of the kitchenette, leaving him alone and thinking about the girl. He hears her footsteps come to a stop, but he still doesn't look up. "Stop being scared of living because you don't know how long you have to do it." She snaps before walking out. Creedy watches her leave, sighing. This girl has grown up too quickly and he would do anything to protect her, but that's one thing he can't save her from is her emotions.


End file.
